Hestky bessemer



A unina sans HE N RY nnss einen, or LoNno N, ENG-LAN D.

`Zicttgn-slatent life 94,994,- dated Sqvtembem, 1869; patcutwl.'i-anf/hmd Dccmnbcr 3l, iSGT..

schedule referred m m' :heee Leiters parent ehe making pm er the seme,

-To .all-to' ivMn-if'itmey concer'm i -Be it known .thatl 1,;HENRY BssEMnn, of Queen Street Pleoe, 0annon street, in the city of- Loudon, .a

subjeet Q i tl 1 eQueen of Great Britain, have inventedI vor discovered new and.V useful flinprovements -in the d Tretmei'lt of )rude o rnCast-lromand in the ih'llannL facture-ot'v Malleabieihon and Steeley and 1, ythe said HENB'BEssnMnn, do hereby declare v'the' nature of the said invention, and in wl|at mann er the' same is, tobe performed, 'to heparticularlydesoribed .and as-,l'

wing statement'thereof carbon contained in die iron, tillthe conversionis ace eomplished. 4'.lhisl process `is Bessemer process. One, method of `now well known as vthe conducting it is to place-beneath vthe` molten iron a perforated case, capable of hearing `Theheat o f the molteniron 'causes -the-.nitrate or. othermatter to.libcrate oxygen, which forces its' wayy through theperibrations-inthe case, and it issues into and amongst the particles offthe molten iron, as when airis forced through* the t-uyercfpipesilthe ordinary lway of conducting the Bessemer process.

When solidmatters areusedto generate'the-any` gen, as above stated-,it is advantageous to' use a converting-vessel like that-which is usually employed in conduetingihe Bessemer,processthatis' to say,al vessel mounted on trun'uions, and witha mouth or opening to receive'and'-llischarge the metal and give exit to the gases passing away during the-conversion,

and also withfan' aperture at the bottoni:

` This .aperturel usuali y receives the tjuyere-hox, which closes it'when. the vessel is at work, and air is'blown through the tuyees,but when, solid substances are to be used, I replace thetuyere-box by a case or chamber 'lined with rei'rzwtorymaterial..y This ease or chamber is filled with the nitrate of soda, or other material capalile of evolving oxygen, and is 'c losed at the top with a perforated freetile, or it may be with a slab of refrawtory stone. y

I make the case of such dimensions that th area of the s urirce of the nitrate or material lis but small,

section ofthe metal in the conveting-vessel.'

'j I n this way oth modify the intensity ofthe uetion and;V also prevent the rapid scoring-action which would result from the passage of `the gas between the .metal and the sides ofthe vessel.

Also,"i n' order to .render the act-ionv more regular f'than' itotlierwise would -he I ihse"the'i iitrate of soda or other material, and east, it into lthe ease or chamv4berlin which it-is to be used, and there allow it to solidify. L

' They melted metal is -tnen cfi'ectuallyprevented from actingl on more than the upper` surih'ee of the4 cast .block of nitrate or material, or the fused nitrate or material may be Veast into separate moulds, andafteward placed inthe eases or chambers, or in some cases Il mould lthe nitrate or i'naterial into blocks, un der heavy pressure, before niserting 'it into the case QoL-chamber; and ihevioly of the actionof thenitrate or material on the iron may he reduced to any desired the nitrate or materiau'but I lay no claim, to the moulding of such blocks by pressurc,norto the nix` ture of inert matterswith the nitrate-sor other-'materiai'; nor do `I lay anygexnaral claimto the use-of nitrutes'or/materials yielding hxygeu-gas, except when used" according to my present invention.

ber containing the nitrates or other mjateiial capable y of yielding oxygen-gas 4is applied to convert 'such as ,are generally employed in the Bessemer provvcess, may he fully understood,"' have shown a-veitical section of an apparatus, so. arranged, atllligure 1', -on the sheet of drawings hereunto annexed. y' 5' At the lower part of the vessel fufwhieli is similar 'to' the vessels usually employed in conducting the Bessemer process, a ring or hoop, of iron., 1 is fixed to the plates wx, which form the lower part of the ,vessele '.lhe case or chamber d, for holdingthe nitrates or other material, isjprovided'wth' aauge at its ugjjper edge, which is. secured to the Yesselby a series of; fslotted studs and cotters, one 'of which' 'studs-isshown .at e.

The" case or :chamber is linedwith fire-brick, 'iiief clay, ganniste'r, or other suitable reiractorymaterial, as shown at c`.- i I put into the case, the peribratedicover or tnycre-plate gh, composed. of fire-'brick or Ransoms concrete stone, is put fon, 'and the case readyfor use.

fused, zuid east into the case orfehamber d, and has become' solidified therein, the usd-t' the tiere-plate as compared with the area' of tliefpriicipal'horizontalf extent-by'. mixing dry clay or other inert matter with ..3 ln order that' the-way in which :the ease. or chamf ng4vessels,

When the nitrate or other-material, shown at g,is'

will then be in a--oon'dition- Wl1en, however, iliefnitrate'or other material ,is

may he dispensed with, as the metal will act on the -upper surface of the nitrate or other material, and 'fuse it gradually, and not float it upward in' the way that loose crystals of' the nitrates would. be carried u ii' tuyere-plates were'omitted.

Before operating on the crude-iron, prefer to heat the vessel, whichniay beieffected by securingan iron grating to the bottom o'f the converting-vessel, by means of the slotted studs e. '0n this grating a fire can be made,.the products of combustion escaping by the mouth i ofthe vessel. .Y When the vessel has been heated sufficiently, the grating may be removed, andthe case or chamber d may be secured in place, as shown in fig. 1.

A little tslip or mixture of clay and ne sand, in

a creamy state, is put around the edges of' the tuyereplate h, so as to secure a goed joint, ader which the ves sel may he turnd onits axes, (one of' which is shown l.by dots at j,) int a position to receive .the molten crude iron to be operated upon, so that the whole of the metal from the melting-furnace may be run or poured into the vessel before any action of the nitrates takes place.

rIhe movement upward of the vessel thus brings the whole of the metal simltaneously'int'o a position 'td he operated on. 1

The fluid iron enters the tyere-holes,nnd coming in contact with the nitrateor other material, rapidly vgenerates oxygen-gas, which passes upward from the tuyere-plate in numerous streams,'t ln'ough the fluid rnctal,in the saine manner as air passes upward from the tnycre-holes in the ordinary Bessemer pro- (IESS.

The oxygen will decaibonize the crude iron,iand.

convert-it into malleable iron or steel, after which the products may be discharged from l.the mouth t of the vessel, by turning the 'vessel on-its axes, as usually practised.

Also, according to my invent-ion, when' I employ` either nitrate 0f' soda or nitrate of potash, or other easilyfusible lnatter, which yields oxygen oncoming in cont-act with fluid iron, and puriiies or decarbonizes the saine, I bring `the nitrates or other matters into a fluid state, in a suitable vessel, before such matters are brought in contact with the molten iron, and

I introduce such fused nitrates or other matters in jets or currents, which are forced through small openings or'tuyeres, into the fluid metal, the force with which they are injected being such as will prevent the fluid iron from entering the tuyeres or the cham ber containing the aforesaid fluid nitrates orother matters. I prefer to fuse these matters in an iron vessel, provided with a jacket for the circulation of superheated st mor hotair. 1

insert-one or more fire-clay tuyeres in thelower part of the com'erting-vessei, which tuyere or tnyeres `I connect by a short pipe'withthe vessel containing Ethe fluid matters before named.

The passages leading into and through the tu'yeres may be heated by passing superheated steam'or'hot air' through them previous to admitting thereto the.'

fluid nitrates or other' matters. The emission o f the su erheated steam or hot air will serve to exclude the uid' metal from the tuyere openings untiliit is desired to introduce the fluid matters info the vessel, and also after the whole of the fluid nitrate or othermatters have heen injected, the steam or air will again pass, and thuseprevent the iron from entering the tuyeres or' passages.

In order to three these jets of fluid into the molte iron, I also employ super-heated steam or hot air, under sufiicient pressure vto act on vthe surface of the said fluids, the month o f the vessel containing them being closed by a valvefor that purpose.

lshown, for thc purpose of dist I would observe thatwhen I so employ fluid matters t'o refine, purify, or decarbonize any inolten iron, I prefer that the vessel containing the iron should be of such forni as will admit of a much greater. depth of fluid-metal in proportion to its diameter than vessels usually employed in the Bessemer process; but this increased depth of' metal is not essential to the success of the process, but it is to be preferred in constructing new apparatus.

Such vessels may either'he movable on trunnions, or they may he fixed cylindrical or other-shaped vessels, but I prefer to employ vessels mounted ontrunnions,I usually called tippirig-yessels, suchas are generally employed in the Bessemer. process.

Vessels that are n'ow in use for that purpose may be readily adapted to the u se of fluid nitrates in lieu of' atmospheric air, as will be readily understood on reference to the sheet of drawings'hereunto annexed, where v Figures 2 and V3 represent vertical sections of a Bessemer convertingvessel, in different positions, with the apparatus necessary for using fluid nitrates,

attached' thereto." The converting-vessel A is constructed of plateiron, and has alining of gannister, B, at the lower part of the vessel.

There lisa hoop of iron, C, from which slotted studs D project, and bymeans of which the tuyere-plate E is secured to the vessel.

. This plate has a tubular part, F, and au inclined ring, G, projectingfrom its upper surface.'

A block or tuyere, of burned fire-clay, H, is fitted into Ythe inclined ring G, and rendered air-tight, by

`running in some Portland cement or plaster.

The centre part of the tuyere H is made hollow, and several' small openings, I diverge from it, as

' iibuung the num nitratesr or other materials in .small 'streams through the fluid metal. v

At the back of the converting-vessel, the chamber Jis fixed; it is surrounded by ajacket, L, which also encloses the four-way cock M, the' handle of which is external to the jacket, and therefore not seen in the drawing.

K K are brackets, by which the jacket L is conneet-ed with the casing of' the converting-vessel. Before the apparatus is employed to .couvert the er de metal, a. fire may be ofliot'- air being propelled through the tuyere-block G for the4 purpose of' keeping up the; combustion of the fuel.

Meanwhile the nitrate of lsoda, or other material,

yielding oxygenras, is put into'the chamber J, through the funnel andcoek N, which -ls then closet?. Highly heated air is passed by or through the axis of the vessel, shown by dots at'P, and the air is conveyed by the pipe Q intol the jacket, and allowed to blow ofi' through the cock R. v

The'airis heated to a temperature suflicieutly high to melt'or fuse the nitrates Orother materials contained in lthe chamber' J, or their fusion may be effected 'in other' vessels before 'they are supplied to vthe chamber J, where they are then retained ina fluid state by the 4hot air passing through the jacket.

, Figure 3 shows the position-the apparatus is pnt into for the purpose of receiving the crude molten iron to be operated on, which is run in through the open mouth o ofthe vessel.. l

Whilst the metal is running in, a current of hot air isvemployed to heat ,the pipes and tuycre-blocks, through which the fluid nitrates are to pass, the air also seryng to prevent any of the molten ironfrom entering the tuy'eres.

The air for thispurpose is conveyed from theaxig ade in the vessel, a Iblast of the vessel, bythe pipe S, passes through the fonr way cock M, andpipes 'l and TX, into the tnycre-A hlock, from which it escapes by several small passages.

Astlie mout-h O of the vessel is turned upward, the tuyere-blo'ck H descends, and just as it is about to be immersed beneath the surface of the molten iron, y

the four-waycock M is reversed. .lhe vessel is then turnedup ilito the position shown in tig. 2.

By the reversal of the four-way coclaithe air under pressure no longer passcsthrough the pipes 'l and TX, into the tuyere-block, hnt'nds its way through the pipe U, into the upper .partof the "chamber-J, and there pressing on the surface of .the.inolten nitrate `or other material, forces it through the fo'urway cock and .pipes CL and TX, and through the several tuyereopenings,.into the fluid metal.

When the whole o t' the fluid has been' discharged,

the air under pressure willfollow through the same `carbonize the crude iron,tlie passage 'of air throi'igh'A i the metal,` after all the 1uid nitrate has been discharged, `will not only coinpletcQthe decarbo'uization to the desired extent, but it will increase the temperature of the metal.

This `increase of tenipeiutnre 4will be still more readily eiifected Aif some fluid, spiegel' etsen, or other carburet of ii'oii, be added at the time, that is 'to say, after all the nitrate er material has been injected.

In order'that'the removal of an Aold tuyere-block andthe supply of a new one may be effected readily,

a joint is made ou thepipe TX, at lV. This is shown on a larger scale at Figure 4.

The elbow-pipe CD has a dovetaile'd ring, X, bolted to it, and the pipe TX has a corresponding dovetailed flange fitted into the rlng X, and capable of moving within the dovetailed ring, so that whenever the 'ange of the pipelx is unbolted from the tuyereplate E, it'inaybe moved on the lioint W, out of the way, and thus admit of the removal of the tuyere plate from .the vessel,

Such vessels may either he movable, o n Vtruniions,

or they may be fixed cylindrical or other-shaped vessels. Y

Usually I employ such a proportion of nitrate or material in relation to the quantity of crude or cast-iron I operated on as to convert the metal at once into malle- `In 4some cases, however, it may be convenient to.

employ la smaller proportion of nitrate or material, and to leavev the -metal in the formof a readily-fusible cast-iron, but of improved quality, and this cast-- iron may be afterward converted by the ordinary Bessemer process, or otherwise employed.'

It is well known that there are iiiany gradations of quality or degrees' of decarbonization between what is usually called mildsteel and that quality of metal `which is usually termed cast-steel, and it .will be obvious that the decarbonization ofthe nietalrniay have 'any range between these'- limits, depending on the quantity of oxygen-producing material employed, and the quantity of carbon originally contained in the` crude iron, and therefore, that the-metal may be 'discharged from the vessel after treatmentrwitli the nitrates vor 'other material, in sncli a state of decarbonization as may bestadapt .it to the uses or afterproeesses for which.-it may' be required; ,1.

Nitrate of soda' orvnitrate o f potash, or chloratc 'of soda or chlorate of potash, may be .carried into and amongst the molten iron by means of a current or inicial, as ls suggested in general terms. in the speci-I tlcatlon ol' my unid former patent, as also iii that of the 31kt of May, l1856, N o. 1,292.

convertlng the metal in pnrt bythe air introduced, and ln part by the nitrate and cliloiate which it cari'les wlth lt, to effect the conversion entirely by the nitrate or chloratc. i

AI then employ a current or currents of an inert gas,"A

of powdered or granulated materials.'

powered materials into the molten metal may be obtained by passing air or steam, under suiiicient pressure, thronglia close vessel, lined with fire-brick, and containing coke or other fuel in an incandescent state', as is well understood, or the gases may he gen elated by'any other-known and elcient means.

of atmospheric air or steam in their natural state, for

the purpose of carrying nitrates or other matters into molten iron.`

Having thus described the nature of my said invention, and itlie manner of performing therstine, I

would' have it understood' that I do not confine inyself to the exact details desclibed; but

What I claim, is-

of soda or other solid. oxygeinyielding substance in a vessel mounted on trunnions,rsncl 1vessel being provided at one end with a chamber or case, to contain the'nitrate or other substance, and at the-'other end with a mouth, `serving to receive and deliver the iron, A and also as .an exit'for the gases passing aiya-y during the conversion, the ariaiigeiiient being also such that' the vessel may have the metal' poured into it at the mouth'withont coming in contact with the nitrate' or other substance, and nia-y then be tipped so as ,to carry the nitrate or substance below the molten meta-l, and finally', when the conversion is complete,

tipped to pour out the metal at themay-he again mouth. v

Also, in treating molten crude oi' cast-ii'on, the pouring the nitrate of soda or other fusible oxygenyielding subst-ance, in a melted state, into the case or chamber in which it is used, allowing it to be'- coiiie solid in the said case or'chanibeiyandform a Vthe molten iron. f

Also,vin treating molten crude or cast-iron, the closing the top of the case or chamber in which the nitrate or other substance is contained beneath the molten iron, with a perforated 4fire-tile, or a' slabof refiactory stone.

Also, the treating molten crude or cast-iron with nitrate of sodaor other fusible oxygen-yielding sub,- stance, by forcing the liquid nitrate or substance in -jets intoand amongst the molten metal.4

Also, theforcinglieated air or steam throught-he saine tnyeres, or orilices by which the liquid nitrate for other Vsubstanize is forced into theimetal, so as,

before the nit-rate is supplied, to heat the -s'aid'tuyeres v ooriiices, and to exclude the metal `from them both currents of alr introduced belowd'the surface of the l another vlmtcnt granted to nie ln England, and dated In'rmne cases, however, it is desired, in place of such as carbonio-acid gas, oi'. steam, or vapor, to carry other' known contrivance for-regulating the supply The gaseous matters employed for conveying these I do not claim under my present invention the use The treating molten crude oi castiron Vwith nitrate mass,'the surface only of which can be attacked' by 4 l y 94,994, before and after the application of the liquid nitrate the. said nietnl, by means of' jet or jets of' carbonicor snbstzmce. acid gas, or other gas incapable of yielding oxygen Also, in the treatment of molten crude 'or cast to the molten metal.' l iron, and in the manufacture of malleable. iron and HENRY BESSEMER. steel, the use of apparatus, arranged as is represented Witnesses:

in figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. DAVD. LnNGsDoN,

, Also, the treating molten crude or cast-iron by Oat/'ord Hill, Forest Hill.

carrying nitrate of soda or other oizygeuyielding, G. F. WARREN, 1 substance, in a powdered state, into and amongst No.1?l Graceohwrch Street, London, E. C'. 

